Lex Talionis: An eye for an eye
by ScribblesOfEuphoria
Summary: The year is 1752, and naïve witch Marlene Austerlitz leaves her treacherous father behind in France to go in search of her true lover. Having heard the whispers in the taverns of France, Marlene heads to New Orleans where she befriends Rebekah Mikaelson and joins the well known Casket Girls. She soon however becomes the subject of a deadly sibling rivalry- will she survive it?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Marlene, you cannot do this. I forbid you from doing this. I am your father, and you will do as you are told" bellowed the robust yet small figure of my father whilst he attempted to wrestle my leather suitcase from within my grip. I fought back desperately, tugging and pulling with all my might while my ears rang with the sound of muffled cries from my 10 year old sister hiding behind our mother's nerve ridden frame in the corner of the room.

"You cannot tell me what to do any longer. I am of 22 years of age and have the capabilities of making my own decisions. If you think I will remain here and watch as you conjure up yet another marriage for me with a man of whom is not of my choosing for no ones gain other than your own, then you papa are severely mistaken." The words eased from within my lips, my shoulders rigid with a sudden feeling of power as though a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders via my revelation. Never once had I dared to speak to my devil eyed father with such a manner of determination and rebelliousness but no longer could I play the part of the darling obedient daughter.

My family and I live upon a small farm outside of Alsace where the summers scorched and the winters were bitter. The farm had been handed down through my mother's line, she being the last of the Dumas family. My father, Hermann Austerlitz, on the other hand was born on the other side of the border in Germany. And then there was Evangeline, my little sister. My dear little Eva. We are the best of friends, despite our age gap. Many a time have we frolicked in the fields, taken a dip in the river and told each other stories at night beneath the blanket upon our bed. We have to share a room and all its commodoties, you see, because my family are not particularly 'well-off' though we are not poor either. We have enough to get by. My father however, is an ambitious man always trying to make his way in the world and rise from our current social standings. When he married my mother and thus inherited the farm, he had expected to inherit a very significant lump sum of funds to go with it. He was dissapointed. The farm was all that was left of the great Dumas family after their riches had been spoilt. From that point on my father's bitterness only grew. The birth of two daughters certainly didnt help matters. My poor poor mother is now a shadow of her former self, flinching from the slightest movement of my father's hand and cowering upon her bed whenever he raises his voice. Our dire financial situation is the reason for our latest disagreement and my wish to leave.

Time after time my father has tried to arrange a marriage for me with wealthy suitors that would no doubt bump up my father's income. I however have no interest in money or doing my so called 'duty' to suit my trecherous father. I want to mary for love and because I desire to spend the rest of my life with a man, rather than marry a man of whom I neither find attractive nor lust after. That is why I cannot stay here any longer, I cannot possibly succumb to my father's wishes and rot away beside a husband who does not love me nor respect me. I would rather die than spend my life tending to a husband who has no desire for me and cannot touch me as though only a loving husband should. The only answer is that I pack up my things and go.

"You ungrateful little bitch" he screamed into my face, twisting his frightfully strong grasp amongst my auburn locks of hair, bending my frame to his will. "After all the things we have done for you, provided you with, you repay us like this? You are so intent on your pathetic little fantasies that you would disgrace us all?" he continued, landing a venomous drop of spit upon my cheek as I writhed to set myself free.

"Leave her, Hermann" my mother finally called out in a whimpering tone, torn between whether to protect herself of her eldest and first born daughter. As soon as the words left her lips, my father spun on his heels having released me and landed a hard brutal punch across my mother's face, nocking her to the floor infront of my sister. The terrified little form of Eva crouched over my mother, crying and trembling as she gripped the unconcious form and shook her. With that, my anger toppled over and I could no longer keep a lid on the extraordinary power brewing within me. With a single wave of the hand, I sent my brute of a father crashing into the far flint wall of our dining room to fall to the floor in a heap. At least I had inherited one good thing from my mother: the power of a witch.

After a moment of deep exhilation, I rushed towards my sister and took her by the shoulders to craddle her against my body and whisper "I'm sorry" repeatedly into her ear. I hovered my hand over our mother's battered and bruised face all the while keeping an arm around my sisters waist. Slowly but surely the purple colouring forming on my mother's cheek was drawn away with my power, her eyes flickering open gently. "My girls, my beautiful girls" she croaked, beaming up at us both.

As though a lightbulb had flicked on within her head, mother unsteadely rose to her feet, glancing over to the heap of our father before picking up my suitcase and handing it to me.

"Mother, what..what are you doing?" I asked sceptically, surprised that she had plucked up the courage to disobey my father.

"You must go, my sweet." she said gently, putting her forhead to mine and rubbing my cheek with her thumb. "This is no place for such a bright and beautiful young lady. You must be happy Marlene. On the very first day that I held you in my arms and looked deep into your tiny brown eyes, I made a promise that you would find happiness and love. This is your chance, I am giving you your chance. Take it."

"But what about..." I was about to say Eva when mother cut me off, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I will take care of Eva. Please Marlene, there is not much time. You need to go, now."

I sheepishly took the suitcase from her, glancing over her shoulder to Eva. "I cannot just leave you both, mother. Come with me? How can I leave you with him?"

"Shhhh, darling" she whispered, pressing her index finger against my lips to prevent the flow of questions. "I must stay here, you know that. My place is here by your father's side. I promised I would stay with him until death do us part. I made a vow. I will be fine, Marlene. Go." Her gentle hands pushed me away a little further, trying her hardest to convince me to leave. The corners of my chapped lips curved into a halfhearted grin, nodding at the two most important people in my life as I prepared myself to flee and perhaps never see their faces again.

"I love you both, so much more than you will ever know. I will write, I will try my hardest to write to you. I'm sorry" I choaked as the floodgates opened and the tears rolled down my cheeks like a never ending waterfall.

Pulling the hood of my cape up over my head, I turned and made my way into the bitter chilling wind allowing the door to slam behind me. I did not know where I was heading, nor did I have a plan of action. I just knew that I had to leave France.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I am tired and I am disheartened. For 14 days, perhaps more for I have lost count, I have been tirelessly travelling by foot, by horseback, by coach, or whatever means I have found necessary to get as far away from my father as possible. My former teal blue dress has become unrecognisable in its muddied and torn state whilst the golden tones of my hair no longer shimmer in the sunlight. I have not bathed and I have scarcely eaten for nothing has the taste of my mother's home cooking. As selfish as it may sound, I try not to think of her too much. I fear that I will create all sorts of dreadful scenarios within my mind concerning my father's treatment of her. She did, after all, help me escape his clutches. She put her own neck on the line to save mine. Instead, I persevere and remind myself constantly that this was all my choice; I chose to put myself in this position and live with the consequences, whatever they be.

The wind wisps up the trees and its howls rattle through my ears, the icy cold catching me from all directions as I stumble and slip upon the dusty track underfoot as I head into the very centre of Amiens. The stars above light my way, the glowing embers of the tavern lamp ahead providing me with a limited sense of relief. Above the ramshackle wooden door, the metal sign swings backward and forth to create a ghoulish atmosphere. As I near upon the door, shouts and singing from the drunkards of this little town become louder and louder to trigger a voice in my head that screams _Marlene, what are you doing? Walk away. This is too dangerous _but I have no choice. I must ignore that sensible little voice. I have nowhere to go, no home nor a roof over my head. The lack of food has made me weak, easily accessible to the biting wind and far from capable of spending another night out in the open. I need a bed encapsulated by four walls and a roof above my head. I need to be protected from the ever worsening weather, to be warm and comfortable, to bathe and wash the muddy residue from my hair and fingernails. One night: that's all I need.

Standing before the door of the tavern I take in a deep breath, my shoulders squaring in the motion as I hold my head high and pull my cloak tightly around my petite little build as if to hide any signs of being timid.

_Why should you be worried? You're a witch. You have the power to protect_ _yourself _chimed a second voice in my head.

With pursed lips I pushed the door forward with a creak and a crunch, half expecting the battered old thing to fall off of its rusting hinges. Forward I went, squinting into the excruciating brightness that met me whilst the sound of slurred voices tried their hardest to sing old folk songs from the country. A hand tucked a loose twisting strand of my hair behind my ears as I made my way through dozens of leery expressions, whispers and pointing fingers. Never before had I been within a room so predominantly filled by men. Never before had I been in a room with any other man but my father but I endeavoured. My heart entered its fight or flight mode, beating under my chest as though it would burst free of my body for all to see. Upon the laps of some of the men sat the working women my mother would often complain about: feathers in their hair and their corsets tied so tight to portray their breasts as being larger than truth. They sneered and glared at me, obviously jealous that a pious innocent 18 year old such as me had so easily stolen the wandering eye of their punters.

Turning my head away I made my way over to the bar, making a beeline for the one gap free at the corner of the wooden structure. There I waited patiently for the landlord to finish serving his gasping customers, all the time casting a side glance at anyone who looked to be a threat.

"What can I do you for, Miss?" Came a stern and teasing voice, the landlord standing directly in front of me and casting a wink back to his buddies. He was a rundown looking fellow, ironic considering the state of his tavern. His hair was receding and failed to hide the multiple droplets of sweat rolling down his forehead. His previously white shirt was blackened with grease and dirt whilst multiple teeth were missing from his upper and lower jaw.

"I wondered if you might have a room spare? One that I could rent for the night?" I said quietly, aware that others were now listening in to our conversation at this point.

The landlord looked at me, his eyes wandering from my own and down to a part of partially exposed cleavage beneath my cloak before travelling back up again. Whilst considering my request he threw his dried up old towel over his shoulder that he had previously used to dry ale jugs, chewing on his lower lip. "Sure we've got plenty of rooms. You'll have to pay up front mind" he said after keeping me in suspense.

I nodded, a flicker of a smile appearing on my face at the prospect of having to somewhere half decent to lay my head at night. Without a word I handed over a small bag of coins, pushing it towards the landlord with a small push from my index finger.

He took the bag. Of course he did. "Top of the stairs. First room on the left" He said sternly, taking the bag and wandering back towards his impatient customers.

"Merci" I called after him, my voice trailing off as I realised he wasn't the slightest bit bothered in my thanks. This was nothing but business.

I turned on my heels, heading through another door just beside the bar that led to a rickety old staircase, the wood clearly rotting under foot. I climbed to the top in a steady and incredibly cautious manner, aware that my foot could go through the step at any time. My trembling fingers held on to the bannister, my greeted teeth chattering as nerves somewhat took over me. Upon the last step I leaped to safety, inhaling and exhaling rapidly after having held my breath for so long in suspense.

After a moment of recuperation I started to scan the dimly lit landing, immediately clapping eyes on the first door on the left and my haven for the night. Or so I had hoped.


End file.
